There’s More To Life Than Working!

“There’s more to life than working”. How many times have you heard this throw-away line? Well, it’s actually true.

I’m Andrew Murray and my best mate is my wife Peta. Together we’re a pretty good team. A bit scruffy maybe, but we’re alright. And luckily for you, we love exploring new places. I do the writing and Peta has a knack for meeting interesting people… and taking the occasional photo.

So what’s our story?

Well in 2009, we were in a rut. We were the “average” suburban family – husband, wife and 2 kids living in a large house in the suburbs in Wollongong, New South Wales.

I had been contracting for several years and running my own parts business.

Work, What Work?

Then the GFC hit and work dried up overnight. I was burnt out. What to do? What would you do?

Sit around the house and mope? Get a “real” job?

What a horrible thought – after running my own business for years, the thought of a 9 to 5 job made me feel sick. And the thought of sitting around doing nothing was even worse.

We needed a break, something completely different.

I’m pretty practical – being born and raised on a property saw to that. And I know how to fix things… a few bush mechanic skills go a long way.

We’d paid down our mortgage. We thought seriously about managing a property in Western Australia, South Australia or anywhere for a couple of months.

Was It Worth It?

Not just for Peta and me, but also for our children. All of us have a different perspective on life. It certainly set us back financially, but it was worth every cent. Travelling is the best education there is:

Meeting people from all over the world.

Learning to make do with not much.

Living on top of one other for 12 months and learning how to make it work (most of the time!).

Accepting that we’re all different, with our own beliefs and opinions.

Realising a person is defined by their moral and ethical code, not the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs.

Gaining an insight into the massive inequality between those of us who live on the East coast and the those who don’t – lack of services, infrastructure and in many cases, basic needs.

So What’s The Plan?

Simple. To explore Australia, write, meet amazing people, occasionally indulge in our passion for off-road racing… and tell you all about our experiences and learnings along the way.

To give you lots of useful information. A resource you can use for travelling around Oz – whether it’s for 2 weeks or 20 years.